News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

March 10, 2012

"It will get done," Alex Smith said today regarding a contract extension with the 49ers. Smith, who hasn't spoken to a Bay Area reporter since his golf outing with Jim Harbaugh at Pebble Beach in early February, had a quick chat with Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic today.

Smith is in Arizona for former Cardinal quarterback Kurt Warner's annual charity flag-football game. In fact, Smith quarterbacked one of the teams and squared off against a team led by former 49ers quarterback Steve Young.

As far as a new contract with the 49ers, most observers felt it would be a quick process given Smith's desire to return to the 49ers and the team's long-stated desire to have him back. Instead, the two sides have hit an impasse. The team is offering a shorter-term deal than what Smith and his representatives are seeking. There's now a real chance that Smith makes it to free agency where he will be able to find his true value on the open market.

Somers passed along the following quotes:

Q. Are you disappointed about your contract situation?

AS: "You know, it's going. I'm not disappointed about anything. It kind of is what it is right now. I'm not worried about anything. I'll just leave it at that."

Q. Are you confident that it gets done soon?

AS: "I think so. It's just a process. It takes some time. It will get done."

In return for these quotes, I promised Kent I would boost his Twitter following by 5,000. (If I don't, he gets my 1998 stick shift Ford Ranger.) Follow him at @KentSomers. He's got some good pics of today's events.

MATTHEW BARROWS

Matt was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green.